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MULTIPLE REVIEWS

Up From The Roots: Cary Morin, Colin James, Joanne Shaw Taylor & Chris Youlden

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Blues musicians invariably cover traditional genre material because it connects them with the wellspring of emotion at the heart of this music and illustrates the major influences on their personal style. Sometimes these gestures are more obvious than others, but as are those of Cary Morin's on his latest album, they can bespeak bold courage as much as humble homage. On occasion, as with Joanne Shaw-Taylor's on her fifth album, such obeisance only hints at the influences at work, while ...

CD/LP/TRACK REVIEW

Carlos Averhoff Jr.: iQba - Jazz Meets Cuban Timba

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On iQba, tenor saxophonist Carlos Averhoff Jr. employs a skilled quintet to provide dance-worthy renditions of a series of jazz classics plus an original ballad, all shaped by timba, one of the homegrown musical forms of his native Cuba. It's an effective take on Latin jazz, and provides enough strong musicianship to ensure that Averhoff's challenging arrangements are given their due. It is evident from the opening bars of the lead track, Wayne Shorter's “Yes or No," that ...

BAILEY'S BUNDLES

Gregorian Chant – Melodies I & II

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The Monastic Choir of St. Peter's Abbey, Solesmes, France was re-founded in 1833, following a period of latency. In the late 19th century, the monastery was challenged by the Holy Father, Pope Pius X to fully research the role of plainchant in the liturgy and to edit books on chant that reflected this research. If there is one thing a bunch of Benedictines can do, it is research. The result has been nearly 200 years of intense scholarship that led ...

CD/LP/TRACK REVIEW

Alexander von Schlippenbach / Globe Unity Orchestra: Globe Unity - 50 Years

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The internet. Mobile phones. Social media. The Fall of the Berlin Wall. A lot's happened over the last 50 years. When pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach first assembled the Globe Unity Orchestra in the autumn of 1966, John Coltrane, Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk still walked the earth. The GUO was one of the first expressions of a truly European style not beholden to such American forebears, part of what eminent jazz scholar Ekkehard Jost termed the Emanzipation. In an incredible ...

LIVE REVIEWS

John Proulx and Champian Fulton at The Jazz Corner

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John Proulx and Champian Fulton The Jazz Corner Hilton Head Island, SC October 7, 2018 It's very clear, the new Jack Lewin production “Here to Stay" is a tour de force of George Gershwin's greatest music, played on two grand pianos. Champian Fulton, a charming, accomplished young pianist, sang her way through the extensive set list together with pianist, singer and Grammy award winning composer John Proulx. Following the Jazz Corner Sunday Series lunchtime ...

RADIO

A Conversation with Harold O'Neal

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Harold O'neal's latest release, the solo piano album titled Piano Cinema, is a distinctively curated collection of songs that highlight Harold's excellent piano abilities while taking you on a subtle filmic journey. Join Harold and me as we talk about Beyonce, Ahmad Jamal, the sounds of film, and other unrelated but connected subjects. Playlist Harold O'neal “Scenes from a Dream" from Piano Cinema (Self-released) 00:00 Harold O'neal “Sam and Sam" from Piano Cinema (Self-released) 27:45 ...

CD/LP/TRACK REVIEW

Solon McDade: Murals

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This is the debut release by ace Canadian bassist and Juno Award winner, Solon McDade. And it's a welcome surprise, to say the least. Think of classic small ensemble Prestige or Blue Note recordings with a modern uplift and state-of-the-art recording processes to conjure a good idea of the quintet's deportment and stylization. McDade is an impressive composer, demonstrated via these effervescent, buoyant and melodic works, to complement the quintet's first-rate musicianship and inimitable synergy. With bop phraseology, ...

CD/LP/TRACK REVIEW

Particle: Accelerator

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Contrary to prevailing popular opinion, electr(on)ic keyboards are not just for noodling in ever-so-cheesy, toy-like tones. In the hands of the titular leader of Particle, keyboardist/vocalist Steve Molitz, for instance, those instruments are lethal weapons with which, on the group's first album in fourteen years, he sets out to destroy preconceptions about what righteous creations can derive from the intelligent, open-minded use of such devices.It's not just for show or by accident Molitz' keyboards dominate the sound on ...

CD/LP/TRACK REVIEW

Aaron Parks: Little Big

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After an absence from activity as a leader, pianist and composer, Aaron Parks reemerged in 2017 with a new trio formation, releasing the highly acclaimed Find The Way (ECM), which carried on the unique harmonic language found four years prior, on the solo Arborescence (ECM, 2013). Today's Little Big, however, comes much more in the vein of his major label debut, Invisible Cinema (Blue Note 2008). The modern approach of an electric band, slower harmonic progressions and more immediate melodic ...

LIVE REVIEWS

Kyle Nasser at The Red Room, Cafe 939

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Kyle Nasser The Red Room, Cafe 939 CD release concert Boston, MA October 11, 2018 With an academic background originally in economics and political philosophy, you have to excuse the open mike opportunity jazz saxophonist Kyle Nasser takes to talk a bit about philosophical differences between tonal jazz compositions, counterpoint, harmonic experimentation and the question of original music. He is just a naturally curious human being with a mind that won't be quiet. Fortunately, ...